This invention relates to in general to the field of cattle stalls and more specifically to a milking parlor having a unique and improved entry/exit and positioning system. While the invention may be utilized with a variety of milking parlor designs, the invention is particularly adapted for use with a milking parlor entry/exit system such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,280 and the teachings of that patent are incorporated herein by reference.
Rotary reels such as that shown in the '280 patent can be utilized to urge the cows out of the milking stall and to help position the cow in the milking stall. However, it is important to precisely position the cow prior to milking and to have a positioning device that will accommodate various sizes of cows.
In the past, rotating, overlapping gates have been utilized to define the milking stalls in parlors of this type. These gates have typically been biased to a closed position by an external spring which could be interfered with and damaged by a moving animal. Also, the gates came into contact upon closing and the noise of a closing gate engaging an adjacent gate would have an adverse impact on the cows.
Finally, in earlier prior art milking parlors, it would be necessary for an attendant or operator to manually open an entry gate to allow a new group of cows to enter the parlor after the previously milked cows have been removed from the parlor.